New Collection Of Unearthed Waylon Jennings Tracks, ‘Diamonds,’ Set For Release In November

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A new album of previously unheard songs by Waylon Jennings, Diamonds, is set for release on Nov, 13 on LP, CD, cassette and download, with the album available to stream digitally starting Dec. 11 via Son of Jessi/Thirty Tigers.

Today (June 22) Waylon’s son Shooter Jennings shares the title track from the project, “Diamonds,” featuring Glen Campbell. The new song was featured on a special CBS Sunday Morning story Sunday on both Shooter and Waylon, and features a surprise appearance by the late great Campbell, who joins Gordon Payne, Jerry Bridges, Carter Robertson, Barney Robertson, and Rance Wasson, the collective known as the Waylors, in backing Waylon on the track.

“This track eluded me,” says Shooter Jennings. “I kept finding it across three different sessions while I was going through my father‘s work. At first, I was very confused because of the sound of the guitar as to what it was. Suddenly, upon listening to the whole thing, I realized Glen Campbell had stopped by the studio and they recorded this little gem on a late December night in 1978. The remaining members of the Waylors helped put the picture together. It quickly became one of my favorite recordings that my dad ever made and I knew I had to have a whole album centered around it.”

Diamonds is the second in a series of albums featuring unknown recordings by Waylon Jennings that Shooter recently unearthed. He shared the first installment of the newly uncovered songs last year with Songbird, which was met by widespread acclaim.

“In the process of combing through and cataloging all of his recordings, I started to get a grasp on all of the music that had not been heard before, and a story started to emerge in my mind,” explains Shooter. “The way I wanted to reveal all of this music to the world was part of my job. With Songbird I knew it would be an emotional journey, hearing Waylon, in his prime, sing new songs to us was going to hit hard. A set of songs almost immediately presented itself to me as Songbird. But there was a second set forming, anchored by the mysterious song “Diamonds”. It was a higher energy album, a “younger man’s” album, if you will.

“I immediately knew which songs were attaching themselves to the second album, and they all shared stories about the rollercoaster of relationships and unrequited love,” he continues. “Among the many Jessi Colter songs I found in the batch, two stood out as part of what Diamonds was becoming, so I selected them to add to the album to weave the tale a little more colorfully. Again, the Waylors and legendary harp player Mickey Raphael helped me close the book on a few of these songs. We had a blast. Now, I’m done and Diamonds is in your hands. Pour yourself a cup of something, turn down the lights and let’s take a ride together.”

Lorie Hollabaugh
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